MONTCLAIR, N.J. – A three-pointer with 8.2 seconds left was the difference in what could only be considered a classic New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Women's Basketball Tournament championship game, sinking third-seeded William Paterson's (18-10, 13-5 NJAC) title bid, 67-64, at No. 8/9 Montclair State (25-2, 17-1 NJAC) Feb. 28.
MSU's Kayla Cebllaos knocked down a three-pointer to hand the top-seeded Red Hawks a 62-56 advantage with 2:52 remaining, but senior guard Floriana Borova (Cresskill, N.J./Cresskill) answered immediately with a trey of her own eight seconds later. A foul put junior Jenny Malone at the line at the 2:26 mark, but she missed the front end of the one-and-one, and WP senior guard Kristine Jackiewicz (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) tracked down the rebound.
Sophomore guard Brittany Harden (Millville, N.J./Sacred Heart) was fouled during the Pioneers' next possession, sending NJAC Player of the Year Melissa Tobie to the bench with her fifth foul. Harden made the first from the charity stripe, making it a two-point game at 62-60 with 2:14 to play, but her second was off the mark. Jackiewicz went to the floor for the rebound, getting possession and calling timeout, to maintain possession for WP.
William Paterson twice more pulled down offensive rebounds, finally leading to a foul that put Borova at the free-throw line. She connected on a pair to tie the score at 62-62 with 1:31 remaining.
Ceballos nudged Montclair State ahead with a tough layup at the 1:04 mark, but Borova again drew the foul, creating a 64-64 deadlock with 45.3 seconds to play. Ceballos was long from beyond the arc during the next possession, but senior Sara Kluth secured the weakside rebound and MSU called timeout with 23.2 seconds left.
Junior guard Janitza Aquino let a three-pointer fy from the left corner and found the bottom of the net with 8.2 seconds to play, making it a 67-64 Red Hawk lead. Borova raced up the court and had to rush an attempt at the game-tying shot, but it wasn't meant to be for the Pioneers, who suffered their second consecutive NJAC Tournament loss at Montclair State.
Borova led all players with 23 points and seven assists, adding five rebounds and three steals. Senior forward Dana Jeter (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) had 12 tallies and five boards, junior center Ashley Marfo (Bergenfield, N.J./Bergenfield) contributed 10 points and a team-best 12 rebounds, and Jackiewicz finished with 10 tallies and four steals.
Ten lead changes and three ties marked a first half that never saw a lead of more than six points. MSU owned a 31-25 edge with 1:16 left, but Marfo put in a layup and Borova knocked down a three-pointer, making it just a one-point game at the break.
Marfo banged in a short layup to open the second-half scoring (32-31, 19:07), and the two sides traded the lead five times during the next minutes until freshman Rachel Krauss finished a 10-5 Red Hawk burst with her bucket from beyond the arc, handing MSU its largest lead of the night at 52-45 with 9:22 on the clock.
William Paterson tried to chip away, but Montclair State was still up by seven (59-52, 5:08) four minutes later. One-for-two trips to the line by Jeter and Borova sandwiched a Harden basket, putting the Pioneers within striking distance at 59-56 at the 3:16 mark.
Aquino paced MSU with 16 points, and senior Nicosia Henry had 11 tallies and 18 rebounds despite being limited by first-half foul trouble. Krauss rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11.
The two teams were close statistically, but Montclair State enjoyed a 21-13 advantage in second-chance points and a 22-4 edge in bench points.
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